Miss You Even More
by SoraTakinouchi
Summary: A page out of the lives of trio. They are Digidestined but humans after all. A Taiorato story.


_Disclaimer: Digimon Adventures and all the mentioned characters are works of Toei Animation._

She sat there at the end of the long white hall; hunched and tired, her face pale with anguish. Her each breath seemed to take twice as long as before as she tried in vain to calm herself down. _She'll be fine;_ she tried to assure herself once more. It didn't make her feel any better.

The sound of running footsteps made her look up suddenly. The person was breathing hard as he came to stand in front of her, his eyes wide and tensed. She stood up, looking both relieved for his presence and tired over her source of anxiety, way pass worrying. Her two year old son was sleeping on her shoulder for half an hour and his weight had left her arm sour and aching but she was too afraid to move him in case he woke up, not to mention the lack of any sort of bed nearby.

"How's she?" her friend asked anxiously, quickly. Sora bit her lower lip. Her gaze wander to the glass window of the room to her right through which she could see her daughter lying on a white bed, an IV tube inserted in her small hand, sleeping.

"She has very high fever. The doctors are saying it could be dangerous if the fever doesn't lower soon." she told quietly, her voice shaking with strain.

Taichi moved forward, glancing once at the little girl before taking the boy from his mother and holding his head against his own shoulder. The kid started to wake up but Taichi rocked him up and down a little and he went back to sleep. With his other arm, Taichi pulled Sora in a reassuring hug. She placed her forehead against his shoulder, closing her tired eyes, relaxing a little in the familiar presence. Taichi rubbed her arm soothingly.

"You should have called me earlier." he murmured with barely concealed apprehension.

"I was out of my mind with worry. Didn't know what to do."

Taichi clicked his tongue reproachfully, "I never pegged you down as one to panic. I think even Natsuko has more wits than you."

"She does." Sora smiled wanly.

They stood there like that for few minutes, Sora feeling more at ease.

"I'm gonna take him to my home. He needs to sleep in a proper bed." Taichi said quietly, patting Sora on shoulder. She nodded against his shoulder, her one hand nervously patting Shou's back, "Then I'll come back here. Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"I know." Sora nodded again. Taichi felt the hidden fears in her voice, the despair, the gnawing anxiety and realized he couldn't hope to soothe her with plain words.

"Wait for me, then. It'll take ten minutes at the most." he patted her arm.

"Drive slow or else Shou will wake up." she said, if possible, even more anxiously.

"Yeah, yeah." Taichi said, rolling his eyes as he let go of her.

"Say my thanks to Aimi for looking after Shou." she mentioned his wife as he started walking away with long strides.

"Shut _up_."

Sora chuckled; a dry, helpless voice that made Taichi even more anxious about her.

_Get well, Nat,_ he found himself thinking desperately, _for your mother's sake._

x-x-x

Sora stared after Taichi, despair and anxiety still clawing at her, though somewhat lessened in their intensity. Her gaze went to her daughter once again - she seemed to be unable to keep her eyes away from her for too long - and she sighed sadly.

Natsuko had been feeling down for a few days; low fever, dry throat, slight flu. Sora had taken her to the doctor and for some time it seemed as if she would be alright. But last afternoon when she received a call from Natsuko's school that Natsuko had high fever, she was stunned with anxiety. It was the first day after her fever broke that Natsuko went to school and it went badly for her. She had driven rashly all the way from her unfinished meeting to her school in a matter of few minutes, anxiety gnawing her insides. From there she had taken her asleep and hot with fever daughter to the hospital where she had been put in emergency section. Sora had been at hospital since then; arranging medicines, her daughter's clothes, looking after her younger son and forbidding herself any food or a moment of sleep. It felt like she would throw up if she so much as _taste_ a bit of something.

It wasn't until late night, as she patted her son to sleep, her own nerves fried, that she realized that no one else knows about this. It had been four months since Yamato had gone to space so he was not an option. Her mother was with her father; in Kyoto. Takeru was out of town for some writers' convention which left Taichi as the next closest family. She had called him then and almost cried as she told him about Natsuko. He must have sensed the hysteria building in her tremulous voice because merely ten minutes later he had come to take Shou to his home and placate her.

Sora walked to the glass window - the closest she could get to her daughter right now - and placed a hand on it. Natsuko looked so small; surrounded by a larger room, not even covering half of the bed. The slowly dripping IV was coming to an end after which she would be moved into a private room.

Sora placed her forehead against the glass, closing her eyes.

_Yamato._

She wanted to sob. If only Yamato was there, she wouldn't be feeling so lost, so scared. She remembered a time when Shou had been ill; Yamato had calmed her down with his soothing words, telling her it was just a casual fever and that he would be fine soon enough. He had stayed by her side, taking care of everything, making everything seem too easy and less tensed. She remembered him bringing her a cup of hot coffee and sandwiches, insisting her to eat some of it, always _always_ keeping her close to him.

And now . . . She felt so alone and so cold right now. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten something. She had skipped the breakfast as was her routine whenever Yamato was not there to force her to have some. She couldn't remember eating anything before the meeting. Strangely, though, she didn't feel hungry. The hollowness inside her was solely due to her sick daughter and her far away husband.

"Whatever happened to the girl who used to kick my ass in soccer?" A familiar voice behind her made her smile faintly. Taichi had returned.

"She became a mother." she said softly.

Taichi shook his head, "And wife of a fool. I'm gonna have a word with Yamato when he comes back," he threatened, "He either goes out there and take you with him, or he stays too. You lose your wits whenever he's not around."

"I'm just worried." she said quietly, still smiling a little.

"Even though I told you she will be _fine_." Taichi said exasperatedly. Sora passed her fingers through her hair wearily.

"Have you eaten something?" he asked skeptically.

Sora glanced at him and looked away. Taichi sighed, "No, of _course_ not. What was I thinking, asking such a silly question? Of course that's the most normal thing to do. Starve yourself to death whenever a kid is ill." he muttered darkly as he walked away, most probably to get her something to eat. Sora chuckled hoarsely. Taichi and his theatrics.

Her eyes wandered once again to the dripping medicine going through IV tube. It was almost ending. She suppressed a sigh. As much as she wanted her daughter to get the complete medication, she couldn't wait to touch her as soon as she was out of emergency. The doctors had asked her to let Natsuko sleep as much as she can, to let the body fight the fever with rest, and though Sora agreed with them, she couldn't stop herself from hoping that Natsuko might wake up, if just for a little while only.

She glanced at her wrist watch; an ivory grey accessory with tiny metallic silver roses embedded in a crescent at one side, a wedding anniversary gift from Yamato, and realized it was 2 a.m. Strangely, she didn't feel like sleeping. She didn't even feel like sitting on the bench at the opposite wall of corridor. She didn't feel like looking away from her daughter even for a second.

"Here you go." she heard Taichi called out from behind. He was holding several sandwiches and two coffee cups, balancing miraculously all in two hands.

"Taichi, I ca-"

"Yes, you _can_. You haven't eaten a thing in last 24 hours so you damn well can eat all of this. I want to see all of this vanishing in your mouth." he said sternly, then back pedaled a little, "Well, all except my cup of coffee."

Somehow, that little addition about his cup of coffee made Sora laugh, "Jerk." she took the plate from his hands and went grudgingly to sit on the bench.

As soon as she took the first bite, her hunger returned with full force. She swallowed the first sandwich quickly enough despite her stomach squirming with nervous tension.

"Have you told Yamato?" Taichi asked as she finished the second half of her next sandwich.

"He will be calling in the morning. It's Tuesday and he always calls on Tuesday before Natsuko leave for school. I really hope he forgets this time." she bit her lower lip, "There's no use telling him something he can't do anything about. He will just get stressed, that's all."

"Hmm." was the only thing Taichi could think of. He knew his friend too well to hope for something else. Where Sora gets stressed visibly, too anxious to hide her panic, Yamato would not show much but will be anxious to hear about his daughter's illness all the same. And where Sora had friends close to her to sooth her anxiety, Yamato will be facing the growing apprehension for a week before calling again to know that his daughter is fine, all that time fighting the distress on his own as he was not one to share his source of worries with others. _If he called,_ Taichi resolved, _I will make sure to let him know that Natsuko is going to be fine._

"It was a stupid _Color_ Day." Sora muttered suddenly, a hint of apprehension in her voice, "Natsuko begged me to let her go to school. I tried to tell her that she's not completely fine yet but she kept saying she will be okay. She promised not to get too excited."

Taichi smiled wryly, "That's just like Nat. She's one active kid."

Sora nodded slowly, "I wish I had stopped her more firmly." she whispered.

Taichi made a _tutting _sound, "You can be so self-condescending sometimes, I start worrying if you were ever anything good."

The taunt made its way home and Sora twisted around to glare at Taichi, "Well, I was worth more than your ass in the _field_, for starters. And unlike _you_, I can actually draw a straight line. I think even _Natsuko_ can draw a straight line and she's not even that good in art."

Taichi laughed silently as he hugged Sora to his side, "That's my girl."

Sora sat there sullenly for a moment, leaning against Taichi's shoulder until finally she broke into a smile - a real one this time. The hug was one of the thousands they had shared over the years and yet its warmth and comfort had been as welcoming as the first one.

There was no telling how many times she had gone to Taichi looking for the comfort only a best friend could offer. He knew her inside out and always knew how to comfort her despite his usual bluntness that appears extraordinarily in her presence mostly. Though he more than often displayed his blunt regard of others in front of his friends, Sora was the only one who knew exactly how blunt he can get when only she was around, removing any or little filters between his thoughts and words. Likewise, Sora often finds herself saying things in his presence she would not even dream of saying in front of anyone, Yamato included. Their bond was something private and deeply personal; like a secret language of twins, a hidden code known to precious few.

Leaning against him, Sora remembered the nights she slept against him on his broken but lumpy soft couch on many weekend nights when they dozed off while watching a movie. She remembered finding him snoring beside her the next morning, his legs sprawled in front of him, his bushy hair scratching her forehead and the TV soundlessly blaring. She remembered the nights in Digital World when he would sleep beside her, his warmth and presence a sign of safety that was so rare then. He was both like her big brother and little brother at the same type and she loved her like one.

She yawned silently and Taichi glanced at her reproachfully, "_What?_" she asked warily, sitting straight.

"When was the last time you went to sleep?"

She looked away, "Umm -"

"Mrs. Ishida?" the familiar voice of the doctor made Sora lurch to her feet. Taichi stood up too.

"That's me." she said quickly.

"Your daughter . . ." he checked his board, "Na - Natsuko Ishida?"

"Yes."

"It seems she is doing fine now. Her fever has broken and the IV is finished."

Sora glanced at the window furtively then met Taichi's eyes then looked back at the doctor, "When will she wake up?"

"Soon enough. Though we would like to keep her for another day to make sure she is okay."

"Oh." Sora whispered, nodding.

"I think we don't have to wait for her to wake up," Taichi said suddenly and something in his voice made Sora look up at him. He raised his eyebrows to the large window of Natsuko's room, "She's already awake."

x-x-x

"Why she sleepin'?"

"Because she is sick."

"Bu' why she _sleepin'_?"

"Because she is not feeling good, Shou."

Shou stared at his sister silently, trying to comprehend the concept of "not feeling good". His sister had been sleeping when he fell asleep last night and was sleeping when he came to the hospital in the morning with Taichi's wife, Aimi. But his mother told him that she had awaken earlier in the morning, eaten a sandwich, had some juice, before going to sleep again, and he was anxious to see her awake again. To his young mind, his sister had always been the boss of the two of them and something didn't feel right with her sleeping so much when he was used to her laugh and running around.

"Wi' she go to school?" he asked anxiously, reaching out with his small, plump hand to touch her hand.

"No, honey, not today." Sora said, stroking his hair affectionately.

Natsuko sighed a little in her sleep then tossed sideways. Her eyes fluttered open halfway. Shou backed away in alarm.

"Mama?" she called out faintly.

"Hey honey." Sora said brightly as she leaned over her daughter. Shou stepped closer to the bed again.

"I'm thirsty." Natsuko said in a whisper.

Sora poured out water in a glass and lifted Natsuko's head carefully, placing the glass to her lips. Natsuko gulped down the water in slow, painful sips.

"My throat hurts." she said, her eyes watering with tears as she pushed the glass away after few sips. Shou looked anxiously at her mother.

"You still have a little fever. I made soup for you. Do you want to have it? It will make your throat feel better."

Natsuko nodded glumly. Her eyes drifted away from her mother to her brother. She knotted her eyebrows.

"Are you sick too?"

Shou shook his head, "Nope."

"Hmph." Natsuko made a sound, "_I _am sick."

Shou nodded, "I know."

"Good. If you talk loudly, my head will hurt." Natsuko said importantly.

"Okay, I wibbe quiet." Shou promised in a whisper. Their mother had already gone out to bring Natsuko some soup. "Why are you sick?" he asked curiously. Natsuko shrugged weakly.

"My teacher says germs make us sick." she said in a confused tone.

"_Germs?_" Shou frowned.

"They are small insects, like this," Natsuko wiggled her pinkie to demonstrate the movement of a germ. Shou stepped back, his expression a mask of horror.

"You got lil' _insepts_ in you?" he asked cautiously. He could imagine worm like things wriggling inside his sister, afraid that one might came out of her ears to make him sick too. The notion was much too disgusting to dampen the attraction offered by having a fever and getting everyone to fuss around you.

"Not _insepts,_ they are _insects_. And I don't know if they are _in_ me, silly. My teacher said they make us sick, not that they get _inside_ us." Natsuko shuddered at the thought of any kind of worms inside her.

Shou eyed her doubtfully, not really believing her. Just then Sora rushed in, a steaming bowl of noodles soaked in soup in her hands.

"Here we are." she said hastily as she placed the bowl besides the bed on a side table, straightened Natsuko's pillows so she can sit against them, placed the bed table in front of her and carefully put the bowl on it.

"Mama, does Nat have germs in her body?" Shou asked anxiously, tugging on Sora's dark green plaid shirt's sleeve.

Sora placed a napkin across Natsuko's lap and stir the soup to cool it down a little, "No honey, she is just a little sick." The relief was evidently visible in both kids' eyes as they exhaled together. Natsuko started sipping her soup, enjoying the soothing warmth of it.

"Yummy." she licked her lips, her voice sounding already better.

"Do you want some, Shou?" Sora asked her son. Shou shook his head quickly.

"Aunt Aimi gave me pancakes for breakfas'. I don' wanna eat now."

Sora nodded. She placed a hand on Natsuko's shoulder as she bent forward, "Papa will be calling any minute now. Finish your soup and noodles and then we will talk to Papa, okay?"

Natsuko grinned at the thought of talking to her father, "Okay."

x-x-x

"How is Natsuko feeling?" Taichi asked, looking up from the laptop on his lap on which he was waiting for Yamato to call.

"Better." she replied, sitting beside him on the bench, "Shou is worried she might have germs in her. I don't know where he got the idea from."

Taichi laughed, "Kids. You should never underestimate their source of information." Sora chuckled, then sighed.

"Ah, I am so glad Natsuko is feeling better. Yamato would have been a mess if he was unable to talk to her." Though, to a more personal side, Sora knew she would feel guilty to tell Yamato that Natsuko is seriously ill. _He trusts me, thinks I'm capable of taking care of our kids. What will he think after knowing that I was not careful enough? That I allowed a child's tantrum to compromise on her health?_ She knew it was not her fault, that Yamato would not think this way, that none of her fears were true, but still she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"You don't think Yamato will think that somehow it's _your_ fault that Nat is ill, do you?" Taichi asked, busily trying to connect to the hospital's internet facility.

Sora stared at Taichi, not believing that it could be so easily read on her face.

"Mmm . . ."

"Huh, stupid." Taichi scoffed, shaking his head unbelievingly, smirking.

"I can't help it." Sora protested.

"You can't help being doubtful about Yamato or can't help not trusting him?" Taichi asked pointedly, annoyance clear in his tone.

"Not trusting _him_?" Sora asked incredulously, _he would not be able to trust me,_ "I think you got it the other way around."

"I know he trusts _you_. Blindly, too. That's why he is 7000 kilometers off the land," Taichi chuckled, then grew quiet, "He had _always_ trusted you, Sor. Nothing is gonna change that."

Sora stared at Taichi for a long time, his few words having removed all her fears just like that. She bent forward and pinched his shoulder. Hard.

"_Ow!_" Taichi jumped involuntarily, rubbing the sore spot and looking at Sora with wide, confused eyes, "What was _that_ for?"

Sora shrugged, "Huh. It's not a dream, then. You really _are_ talking sense today. Fancy that."

Taichi gave a somewhat relieved and disbelieving smile, shaking his head, "Like I said; stupid."

Just then the screen lit up with an incoming call.

"And here's your stupid husband." Taichi said, his eyes shining with the prospect of talking to his second best friend after two months.

x-x-x

Yamato watched the screen impatiently as the call went through; expecting to see his wife and two kids. The face that appeared immediately, however, belonged to none of them but was still the most pleasant surprise. Yamato decided to act otherwise.

"_You!_ What are _you_ doing here?"

His friend grimaced in disappointment, "Hello to you, too, Yamato. And it's not here, it's _there._"

Yamato frowned in confusion, "Huh?"

"I see you are as dumb as ever. Zero gravity doesn't improve that, huh?"

"Taichi, what are -"

"I'm saying that you should have said what are you doing _there_, not here. Because we are _here_ and you are _there_."

Yamato huffed in disbelief. He was seeing his friend after two months and he was finding his grammatical mistakes.

"I see you still have no idea when to say what," Yamato shot back, "Now tell me where my wife and kids are?"

"Safe with me, until you pay the money and don't inform the authorities."

A hand reached out to shove at Taichi's shoulder, "Stop goofing around." Sora's voice said annoyingly as her face appeared beside Taichi, "Hey Yamato." she greeted though her smile was not as bright as usual. Yamato failed to notice that. He felt himself grinning fully, all the way up to the crinkle of the corners of his eyes.

"Sora." the word felt both rejoicing and longing.

"Ignore the blabber of bush-hair," Sora said, smiling a little more, "How are you up there?"

"Sora, your question dangerously sounds as if he's calling from _heaven_." Taichi pointed out which earned him another shove. Yamato ignored the jape and leaned a little forward.

"I'm fine, Sor, how are you? How are kids?" he frowned at the shiny, unfamiliar white wall behind them, "_Where_ are they? Where are _you_ guys, exactly?"

Sora looked behind her, frowning at the wall, then faced him again, "Mm, we're at the hospital." she said in a falsely stable voice. Yamato sensed it at once. He felt fear gripping him.

"Why are you at the hospital? Is someone hurt? Natsuko and Shou - where are they? Are they okay?" he asked in a rush.

Sora started to say something but Taichi cut in, "Yeah, they are fine," he said nonchalantly, "Nat is having a little fever and a sore throat, nothing serious. Your wife is being over-anxious as usual by admitting her in the hospital. The kid will be getting cranky real fast if she keeps her here any longer." Sora stared at Taichi gratefully as lies fell out of his mouth one after another. He was most convincing.

Yamato breathed in relief, a burden moving away from his heart. _Just a little fever, nothing much._ Still, though, he yearned to see his daughter even more.

"Is she sleeping? Can I talk to her?" he asked hurriedly.

Sora smiled and nodded, "She is having some soup to sooth her throat, but she is excited about talking to you."

The screen tilted as Sora and Taichi stood up, giving Yamato a glimpse of the hospital bench and a door to a room before he heard the sound of a door he could not see turned open.

"Who wants to talk to Papa?" Sora asked in a hushed yet excited whisper, and Yamato smiled, hearing the excited voices of his kids as they both chanted "Me! Me!" and Taichi calling out "One at a time! One at a time!"

Then came Shou's somber voice, "Let Nat talk first. She's sick."

Sora placed the laptop in front of Natsuko, removing the soup bowl, and Yamato saw the face of his daughter. She looked paler, with faint circles under her eyes, but grinned at him all the same.

"Hi, Papa." she said brightly.

"Hey, princess," Yamato grinned back, hiding his worried expression quickly, "How's my big girl?"

"I have fever," she told him importantly, "Because of germs. My teacher told me. But they are not _in_ me." she assured. Yamato heard a laugh-disguised-as-cough that he was sure belonged to Taichi and couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Well, if you take all your medicines properly, the germs will run away like that," he snapped his fingers, "And then you will be fine again."

"I am taking all the medicines, Papa, and Mama made me soup for my throat."

"Oh, yeah, how is your throat now?"

"It hurt when I woke up. Then I have some soup and its good now."

"_That's_ my brave girl!" Yamato grinned, "I know my princess is smart to have all her medicines."

Natsuko grinned proudly. She leaned closer to the screen and noticed the silent darkness of universe visible in a window of her father's space shuttle. She suddenly realized how far her father was from her. The thought made her feel small and teary, "I miss you, Papa," she said in a small voice, "When will you come back?" she bit her quivering lower lip as her blue eyes pooled with fresh tears. The fever had made her emotionally sensitive and more than anything else she wanted to sit in her father's lap as he stroke her hair like he always does.

Shou gave his mother an anxious glance, worried to see her sister looking so sad. Sora smiled back at him and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Personally, she too, felt sad about Natsuko and how she missed Yamato, but both she and Yamato knew better than to make it a guilty thing for their kids to express how much they need their parents.

Yamato pressed his lips at the sight of his daughter's tears. He yearned to wipe them, to take away the sad look off his daughter's beautiful face, to tickle her until she smiles, to hug her close and keep her there until she felt better. But the only thing close to him was deep dark void of space, sprinkled far and wide with the starry dust.

He leaned forward, too, and spoke in a soft, affectionate whisper, "Honey, I wish I could come right away. But I can't, sweetheart, I can't. Not for a while, remember? But you know I miss you too, don't you?"

Natsuko smiled tearfully, and nodded.

"I miss you and Shou _so_ much," Yamato repeated, "But I have to do some work here and I can't come until I complete it."

"Is it your _homework_?" Natsuko asked curiously.

Yamato chuckled, "Yea, something like that. But a big homework, _very_ big."

"And your teacher will give you a bad grade if you don't finish it, right?"

Yamato nodded earnestly, "Oh yes, my teacher will be _very_ angry with me." Sora shared an amused glance with Taichi.

"_Ohhh_," Natsuko whispered in understanding, "Okay. But you will come home as soon as your homework is done, won't you?"

"As soon as it's done, princess." Yamato promised.

Natsuko nodded and leaned back against her pillow. Shou came forward eagerly.

"Can I talk to Papa now, Mama?" he asked.

"Natsuko, is there something else you want to say to Papa?"

"Papa, Shou wants to talk to you." Natsuko said promptly and turned the laptop around. Sora took the laptop and placed it on the side table. Shou dragged a chair and hopped up onto it.

"Hi Papa." he said brightly.

Yamato felt longing taking hold of him afresh as he looked at his younger kid, who looked so little with his soft cheeks and plump hands, "Shou, wow, you look so big." he gave him the very words Shou loves to hear; that how much older he looks than the last time.

"How ol' do I look, Papa?" he asked eagerly.

"Old enough to beat Takeo at soccer." Yamato boasted.

"Better hope Shou doesn't repeat this in front of Takeo." Taichi whispered to Sora who pressed her lips to hide her smile.

Shou grinned at his father, "I ate pancakes today. Aunt Aimi made them. She said I wi' get stron' quickly if I eat lots of pancakes."

Yamato chuckled, "Good. But don't forget your vegetables. They give you -"

"Vitamins and iron and everything nice." Shou and Natsuko chanted together and burst into giggles. They have heard it enough times from their father to memorize it by now. Taichi and Sora joined them in their laughter.

"Exactly," Yamato said, smiling himself, "And they will make you strong like -?" he left the question hang in there.

"Popeye the sailor man!" the kids replied together again. Yamato laughed.

"Yes, that's right." he looked at his watch; they have been talking for fifteen minutes now. He had five more minutes before the space station move away from Japan and he lost his connection. And he still got one more thing to do, "Now I need to talk to Mama for a minute. Is there something else you wanna say, kids?"

"Bye Papa! I miss you. Do your homework quickly!" Natsuko leaned in beside Shou, to wave her little palm.

"Yea, bye bye Papa." Shou waved his plump little hand.

"Bye bye, kids. Take care of Mama and be good at school."

"We will." they both promised.

"You two stay here with Uncle Taichi, okay?" Sora said as she picked up the laptop from the table, "I will be back in a minute."

"Okay, Mama." Yamato heard Shou saying and then Taichi's voice as he asked who wants to play the story game.

The soft click of the door closing behind Sora cut off all the noise. Few seconds later he found himself looking at Sora with the same white wall at her back.

"They are always much happier after your call," Sora said lightly, pushing her hair back. Yamato noticed the slight redness of her eyes and felt guilty for leaving her down there to manage so many things at once. A worried look came over in his eyes.

"Anyway, how are you, Yamato? It must be hard to live in so much silence when you are used to Natsuko and Shou always running around."

Yamato chuckled, "In the first month, it's a _nightmare_! But we get used to it." He sighed, "Only two more months to go before I come back."

"Two _months_." Sora murmured sadly. Yamato wanted to tell her the time felt just as long to him too. Instead, he breathed heavily.

"Sor," he said softly, "Are _you_ okay?"

Sora tried to smile as honestly as possible, "Of _course_ I'm okay. I'm not the one with the fever, remember?" she tried to joke unsuccessfully.

Yamato stared at her steadily, "You don't _look_ okay." he observed quietly. Sora averted her eyes, trying to come up with something. Yamato didn't give her a chance.

"When was the last time you slept?" his tone was more sad than accusing.

"Yamato, honestly, I'm _fine_." Sora tried again.

"I know you're not, Sor," Yamato said gently, "We _both_ know how you get when the kids are not well." The only time Sora is not her confident, strong self was when one of the kids is ill. She never faced any of the kids getting ill since she didn't have any younger siblings unlike Yamato and Taichi. It always comes harder for her.

"You mean the way I go out of my mind." they both chuckled at that. Sora sighed.

"You can tell me, you know." Yamato insisted, "You don't have to hide anything from me. You don't have to be brave for me."

Sora glanced at him, then looked away, then looked back at him. Something felt stuck in her throat.

"Natsuko had a very high fever," she admitted, looking down at the keyboard, "She insisted on going to school for Color Day. She got sick. I got a call from her school. And I panicked so much that I didn't tell anyone until much later in the night. Yamato, she had to be admitted in emergency and I - I was _so_ - so -" she broke to stifle a sudden sob, realizing for the first time that there were tears in her eyes. She rubbed them away fiercely.

Yamato could feel the panic that she must have felt then; the fear, the loneliness, the helplessness, and clenched his jaw to not to give way to his emotions. _She must have felt so alone, then,_ he thought, _I should have been there to calm her down._ But that couldn't be done. That was not possible. And they got few minutes left of their connection, anyway.

"I wish I was there for you. Things wouldn't look so bad then. I – you wouldn't have to be so scared then."

Sora shook her head, "Shut up. I know you want to help but that's not always possible."

Yamato sighed, "But then you called Taichi and he made you take it easy?" he asked earnestly, trying to calm her down. Sora nodded and smiled.

"You know him, the way he gets. He took care of everything after that."

Yamato sighed in relief. _Thanks, Taichi, for everything,_ he sent a silent gratitude towards his friend. He was like the most solid presence in their lives; an anchor of support, a bond of brotherhood shared mutually with both Yamato and Sora and Yamato couldn't be more grateful for his presence in their lives than that moment.

"Yeah, well, he's a goof, but in a good way." he said playfully and joined Sora in her laughter. The image flickered then. He was losing his connection.

"Gotta go now, Sor," he said hastily.

Sora nodded, "Okay, Yamato, take care. Don't worry about Natsuko." she said in a rush.

"I won't. Not as long as you're with her. I trust you, Sor, and I love you even more. Remember that." he said, smiling crookedly as she blushed even after all those years.

"I love you, too, but I miss you even more." Sora said both playfully and wistfully.

"You have no idea how much _I_ miss you. Other astronauts don't have a shred of your part of sense of humor," he complained in a whisper, "Anyway, say my thanks to Taichi for being -"

"The most amazing person in the world and space," the face of his friend appeared beside Sora most unexpectedly, "I know, you don't have to thank me for it. It comes out naturally. I can't help it."

This time, Yamato laughed, "For being a _jerk_, you jerk." he teased.

"Jerk?!" Taichi recoiled in accusation, "What did I do now?"

"For starters, hogging my wife's share of time with me." Yamato made a face. Taichi rolled his eyes.

"Your wife sees you every week. You haven't talk to me in _months_. You _needed_ to talk with me. You need someone to keep your feet on ground by telling you that you are not half as handsome as your brown-haired friend, no matter what Sora tells you." The image flickered again.

Yamato snorted, "You keep telling yourself that," he glance down at his watch, "See you next week. Bye Taichi. Bye Sor."

"Bye Yamato."

"Bye blondie." this, of course, was Taichi's way of saying farewell. Yamato laughed again, accompanied by Sora, and then the connection got cut off.

"Feeling better, amigo?" Taichi asked Sora who was still smiling.

"You bet." She whispered. Taichi put his arm around her and sighed.

"Don't tell Yamato but it's kinda dull without him here."

Sora looked up at him slyly. Taichi met her gaze and winced.

"You _are_ gonna tell him, right?" he asked grudgingly.

"You bet." Sora said, grinning wickedly.

Taichi sighed again.

x-x-x

_A/N: I dare took a risk here; by presenting an every-day life's scene portraying my favorite trio. Please be nice in your reviews. And generous. I love long, detailed reviews! (Don't we all!)_


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